In the recent years Bangladesh’s bowling perhaps never faced so much criticism like that they are coming under in Sri Lanka. The run-fest by
the Sri Lankan batsmen in the Test series and dozens of over-pitched deliveries in the first one-dayer had kept the bowlers on a knife’s edge.
Abdur Razzak provided a welcome relief on Thursday when he took 5-62 in the third one-day international to become the first Bangladeshi bowler to take 200 wickets in
any format.
It was tough to imagine this could happen in this series, which is being completely dominated by Sri Lankan batsmen who treated every bowler in ruthless manner in the
previous matches.
Razzak has long been Bangladesh’s most experienced bowler in one-day cricket and have gone through a situation like this on many occasions in his international career.
But the experience did not help him in the first one-dayer which Bangladesh lost by eight wickets in Hambantota. He was given the ball at a time when Bangladesh had
already lost control of the game thanks to their woeful first three over, so he could do really nothing.
When asked before the third match in Kandy, Razzak had said that sometimes it is tough for a spinner to bring the team back in the contest after such poor start unless
there is any help from the wicket.
He knew the wicket in Pallekele will not offer any such help as it traditionally favoured the seam bowlers. Still he wanted to take a challenge and Razzak must say he
is now a winner irrespective of the outcome of the game.
Bangladesh had another poor start to the game giving away 85 runs inside 15 overs before the spinners, led by Razzak, slowly brought them back in the game.
A five-wicket haul, which he needed to reach the 200-wicket milestone, was still a distant possibility as Sri Lanka had been batting well with Tillakaratne Dilshan
(125) leading the way.
Razzak had his spin bowling partner Sohag Gazi to thank for maintaining some pressure from one side which helped him get three wickets in his second spell to slow down
the Sri Lankan innings.
Sohag then took a wicket for himself and a touch of luck earned Shahadat Hossain the prized scalp of Dilshan before Razzak returned to bowl the final over of the
innings.
He bowled an arm-ball, his stock delivery to trap Nuwan Kulasekera plumb in front in his first ball before he bowled Sachithra Senanayake to complete his five-wicket
haul and reach the milestone.
With a slight favour from the umpire he could have got his second one-day hat-trick as well, but this should not come as any disappointment for the bowler who has now
recorded Bangladesh’s best bowling figures against Sri Lanka.
While no other Bangladeshi bowler could achieve five wickets more than once in a one-day innings, Razzak has now done it four times in his career with his all previous
hauls coming against Zimbabwe at home.
Sri Lanka is the country where Razzak made his one-day debut, so it is fitting that he has reached the milestone here, though his journey to 200 not out has never been
that easy.
MOST WICKETS IN ODIS FOR BANGLADESH
Player Span Mat Inns Overs Mdns Runs Wkts BBI Ave Econ SR 4 5
Abdur Razzak 2004-2013 141* 140 1223.3 65 5493 200 5/29 27.46 4.48 36.7 5 4
Mashrafee Murtaza 2001-2012 126 126 1052.4 90 4882 161 6/26 30.32 4.63 39.2 5 1
Sakib al Hasan 2006-2012 126 125 1075.2 63 4617 160 4/16 28.85 4.29 40.3 4 0
Mohammad Rafique 1995-2007 123 122 1049.0 63 4612 119 5/47 38.75 4.39 52.8 2 1
Khaled Mahmud 1998-2006 77 75 564.1 30 2865 67 4/19 42.76 5.07 50.5 1 0
-With New Age input
